Real Life City Recreation Tutorial

[SimRico 968]

Wooooo hoo! I see my poece of land already!   Down by the lakeshore drive!  Cant wait to see the progress from TOP to bot!

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,198]

Looks great! Will be following this thread a lot.

 

This is what I got for the city of Toronto

[cmdp123789 710]

Oh wow! it looks really good! Thats the spirit! Now my question is, why are you not using RHW?

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,198]

Don't have a lot of experience with them yet. I will test them out with a new region that's more rural and when I get comfortable with them I will try to replace the highway with a RHW. This is one of the first cities I've done using some of the NAM puzzle pieces for turning lanes and two and three lane roadways.  

 

On my old computer I tried to get the hang of the RHW but my game kept crashing when I put down some of the puzzle pieces and I gave up, it's one of the reasons that I haven't went back to it but i could give it a try later on.

[cmdp123789 710]

Well... If I have to be honest.. I like Toronto.. Maybe I should give it a try myself

[JimC 159]

You fellows should post a known landmark for a size comparison. Willis Tower in Chicago, CN Tower in Toronto and then repost pics. It's hard to judge without that comparison.

[cmdp123789 710]

you are right... let me see... will this work?

 

 

 

Of course, it is really small so far... but I really want to make this good... so Im taking my time with everything... let me know what you guys think =)

 

BTW, Im thinking canals would look so much better... Im still considering it..

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,198]

Here is one for Toronto with some of its buildings. Unfortunately that is about all there is for Toronto buildings that I can find.

[cmdp123789 710]

It's a shame that such an iconic as Toronto only has few.. On the other hand.. Wow! That's looks really neat! Now, question is.. Do you have a maxis blocker?

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,198]

No I don't right now.  I only have a mod that blocks the maxis mansions. I want to get rid of some of the maxis buildings (mostly the small commercial buildings) but I like the high-rises and some of their mid-rises which I want to keep.

 

I there is a mod that you can choose which buildings to block, I would use that. I might test the building blocker on a new city to see if I like it.

[TheBonobo4 28]

From my understanding from talking to Chris here (cmdp), yes, it is a mod that lets you choose which buildings to block, rather than all of a specific type. I too hope so, though I've not yet tried it out.

[cmdp123789 710]

Well to be honest I use one that is pretty effective, but, the one I'm using blocks densities for each category. I really should look at it into detail to see what are the options.. But to be honest... I don't use maxis content at all! Everything is custom... That's the only way to achieve a more realistic look in your cities, at least in recreations...

[ana815 5]

Hello, i found this topic and i thought it would be nice to share my city with you. It's supposed to be Chicago, but the lack of Chicago's buildings and the difficulty of re-creating some of chicago's features, made me add my twist to the city. I've been working on in since March because i don't have much time to play, but i plan to finish it this summer!
I hope you like it.
 

Grant Park (Cloud Gate, Millennium Monument, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Art Institute of Chicago, Van Buren Station), Aon Center, Two Prudential Plaza, CNA Plaza, Smurfit-Stone Building.

 

 

 

Old Chicago main post office, Willis Tower

 

 

 

CTA's Brown,Purple and Blue, Pink , Green Lines, to the Chicago Loop.

 

 

Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Soldier Field, The Field Museum

[cmdp123789 710]

Hi ana.. welcome to simtropolis!

 

I cant see your pictures for some reason.. so I cant really tell =) 

 

What pic host are you using?

[ana815 5]

 

Hi ana.. welcome to simtropolis!

 

I cant see your pictures for some reason.. so I cant really tell =) 

 

What pic host are you using?

 

 

this one http://postimage.org. I'll be taking more screenshots soon

[cmdp123789 710]

I dont know it... =/ still... I cant see your pics... =(

[ana815 5]

I dont know it... =/ still... I cant see your pics... =

 

Can you see this one?

[cmdp123789 710]

Oh yeah! I can see it!! wow... it looks really good? I want more!!! 

[ana815 5]

Navy Pier, North Pier Tower

 

 

 North Western University: Chicago Campus, Onterie Center, N Lake Shore DR.

[JimC 159]

i can see them all just fine.

 

there is no reason to continue with the chicago recreation. evidently, it has been done.

 

fantastic work ana815. if you replaced the shores with some manmade uh..."shore liners" ... then i think it'd be even better.

[TheBonobo4 28]

I think that Chicago is brilliant. Almost perfect if it's accurate. Though it could do with a water mod, as the water looks too tropical to be Chicago. And if a few roads weren't Maxis roads (not a problem, it still looks great), it'd be perfect.


Other than that, I'm amazed how good a recreation you have. Do you have other parts to show? I noticed all those pictures were of the same city tile.

[mrsmartman 200]

Loads of skyscrapers. Nice looking coast.

[TheBonobo4 28]

Who would be the person to ask to go about getting the AMNH from NYC into SC4? It is a huge and very complex BAT, but I imagine it could be used in a lot of cities, not just NYC, if it was made as a functioning Museum. 

[cmdp123789 710]

It looks really good... but I would follow some suggestions as the seawalls.. On another question, how accurate is it?? and how big did you go?

 

 

i can see them all just fine.

 

there is no reason to continue with the chicago recreation. evidently, it has been done.

 

fantastic work ana815. if you replaced the shores with some manmade uh..."shore liners" ... then i think it'd be even better.

What city do you suggest we could also show?

[JimC 159]

It looks really good... but I would follow some suggestions as the seawalls.. On another question, how accurate is it?? and how big did you go?

 

 

i can see them all just fine.

 

there is no reason to continue with the chicago recreation. evidently, it has been done.

 

fantastic work ana815. if you replaced the shores with some manmade uh..."shore liners" ... then i think it'd be even better.

What city do you suggest we could also show?

 

haha, i was only kidding about abandoning the Chicago effort. i'd keep working on that one, because i think it's worthwhile and you've been working on it for quite some time.

 

i know that you can't upload cities to STEX but i wonder if you two could trade the city that has already been made and then work on it from there? a lot of work has already been done, but there's plenty more to do, such as the seawalls, like you mentioned.

[cmdp123789 710]

Im working philly too.. just so you guys know... I will upload some pics later!!

[ThirtyThree 141]

Im working philly too.. just so you guys know... I will upload some pics later!!

 

Can't wait to see those!  What parts of the city are you working on? 

[cmdp123789 710]

Well, to be honest, I only layed down the roads, and plopped the city hall, which to is the most important building in there... it looks somewhat symbolic. And so basically I got all the roads layed from the downtown area to the very end of the southern part. I need to work on the highways still.. which is gonna take me some time to get them accurate.. Pics will have to wait as I just got home and Im very tired.. and I have an interview tomorrow in the morning.. so.. Tomorrow afternoon for sure guys!!

[cmdp123789 710]

Hey guys.. sorry to double post, but I think I owed you this!! I know its not much.. but Im trying to split my time equally between the 5 recreations Im working right now.. if you want to know, the recreations are: Chicago, New York, Philladelphia, Phoenix, and finally Salt Lake City. I know the last 2 sound a little random compared to the 3 at the beginning, but I wanted to try something different from USA.. I would love to work on Los Angeles.. but the angles ugh.. same as Houston.. Its a shame I cant figure out anything yet with that.. But yes, Salt Lake City is such an interesting city.. and I can mix a lot of stuff in there as Trams.. and rail.. and wide avenues.. its a "gridded traditional American city"

 

Anyways, here is a little teaser from Philly:

 

 

As you can see, its not much.. but I got over almost all the downtown area, and the surroundings, and the details will be added later.. this is just the structure layed down.. =) hope you like it!